Tag Archives: Jerry King

The many folks who are fascinated with all things Jack White will have an opportunity to hear the rock star/Third Man Records kingpin's thoughts on many less-traveled topics in the coming weeks. He's teamed up with Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton, co-hosts of NPR Music’s All Songs Considered, for an interview series dubbed “The Flipside,” which will dig beyond White's best-known musical interests.

The first installment, available for listening/reading now at NPR.org, discusses one of Third Man's Green Series releases. Unlike the label's Blue Series of music singles, the Green releases branch into different audio territory.

"I wanted to be able to talk with people who have trade jobs and make records with them," White told Boilen of the Green Series. "I want to do more records with carpenters, electricians, people who specialize in even more bizarre trades that are off the beaten path."

White goes into more detail about auctioneer Jerry King, whose "The Auctioneer" 7-inch vinyl Third Man release is currently available via store.thirdmanrecords.com. The release features an interview between King and White, and a B-side of two mock auctions. Recording it appealed to White, he told Boilen, because he's "very interested in anybody communicating something in an unusual way with another person."

"Because you'd almost -- if, say, you could rewind the clock and say, in the future, there's going to be this scenario where one human being sells something to another human being -- how would we want them to talk to one another? You can't predict that stuff," White said. "That stuff just happens on its own. To explore it and talk about it... you never can find an explanation to why an auctioneer talks this way. It's just incredibly beautiful."

Another "Flipside" installment comes next week; White will discuss accents (actress and accent expert Amy Walker's "Discourse on Accents" Green Series release is also available via store.thirdmanrecords.com). NPR reps tell us that new installments are set to go up on the site on Mondays, and that an initial three-week run is planned.